August Meditation

And then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?
     Vincent Van Gogh

August Poetry

Pied Beauty 

Glory be to God for dappled things— 
For skies of couple-color as a brinded cow; 
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; 
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; 
finches' wings; 
Landscape plotted and pieced—
fold, fallow, and plow; 
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; 
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) 
With swift, slow; 
sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; 
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: 
Praise Him. 

Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1877

I need to lose 40 pounds.

I am obese and need to lose weight.  I have chosen the Weight Watchers online program to accomplish my goal of losing 40 pounds. There are other methods but this is the one I am going to do. 

I joined the online program for $ per month.  I am using the Simple Start plan for getting started.  This first week I am concentrating on Breakfast.  My week starts on Sunday and that will be my weigh in day. My beginning weight is 185. 

Here is my first week's Breakfast Meal Plan:

Meal Plan

Sunday

     Breakfast -- Egg/English muffins, cantaloupe 

     Lunch 

     Dinner

     Snacks 

Monday 

     Breakfast -- Fruit & Cheese Danish

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

Tuesday 

     Breakfast -- Veggie Omelette 

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

Wednesday 

     Breakfast -- Yogurt, Fruit, & Cereal

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

Thursday 

     Breakfast -- Oatmeal/Cream of Wheat with Berries 

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

Friday 

     Breakfast -- Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Potatoes 

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

Saturday 

     Breakfast -- Breakfast Shake, Fruit

     Lunch

     Dinner

     Snacks

I want to try all of these and see which I like and which I don't, which a easy and which require more time and attention, and which I want to just tweak a bit to suit my taste. 

I have some of the ingredients but I made a shopping list for the things I need:

Weight Watchers Breakfast Shopping List

Light English muffins

Tomato

Eggs

Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

Fat Free Milk

Light Bread

Red bell pepper

Mushrooms 

Blueberries 

Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt

Strawberries 

Unsweetened Shredded Wheat 

Splenda 

Oatmeal 

That's all for today.  Tomorrow is grocery shopping day and the plan begins Sunday. 

Around OakMeadows

Around OakMeadows

Rain, glorious rain!  Wednesday and Thursday was had some good soaking rain.  It was needed, perhaps not as much as California, Washington, & Oregon, but still needed. A second blessing is that the 100+ degree weather has dropped to the mid- to upper-80s. Yea! I have 4 cats and you would think the thunder and lightning might disrupt their daily sleeping but no they sleep through it all. Actually, I love to sleep when it is raining too.  

We loved the movie Wallace and Grommet several years ago.  The same company has a new movie using similar animated characters and really looked forward to seeing it. Well, we saw it Sunday afternoon and it was pretty much a disappointment. No where near as engaging as W and G. But on the good side, our daughter joined us and it was lovely to see her.  

My baby quilt is coming along nicely. I am doing the hand quilting in navy blue.  I wasn't sure if it would look right so I had some yellow thread on hand if the navy was too stark but fortunately, I'm happy with the navy so no ripping out needed.  

I finished reading All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank.  I'm rather embarrassed to admit enjoying it because it was such a piece of fluff.  But I did enjoy it.  I started reading The Great Silence by Juliet Nicolson before we went on our trip and am just now getting back to it. It is about life in Britain in the years immediately following World War I. Very interesting. 

I thoroughly enjoyed not cooking or washing dishes during the cruise but we are back to reality now.  Cooking this week will include Shrimp Jambalaya, Fruited Chicken Salad, and Spaghetti and Meatballs. I have all the ingredients to make Applesauce Raisin Spice Cake but that is an autumn cake and it's just flat too hot to be autumn around here. It is really more ice cream for dessert weather these days. 

That's all the news from OakMeadows for now.  

Weight Watchers Chicken Marsala

I have not made this before but I am going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it turns out. 

2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups sliced white or cremini mushrooms 
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1 1/4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch. 

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid is released, about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, sprinkle chicken with thyme, salt, and pepper.  Push mushrooms to one side of skillet.  Place chicken in pan and cook until golden, about 4 minutes per side. 

Add wine to skillet and simmer 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup of broth and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, stir together cornstarch and remaining 1/2 cup broth until smooth; add to skillet. Simmer, stirring constantly, until sauce is bubbly and thickens, about 1-2 minutes, stirring mushrooms into sauce. 

Place 1 chicken breast on each plate and top evenly with mushroom sauce. 

Serve with steamed broccoli and 1/2 cup whole wheat pasta. 

Total 7 WW Points Plus. 

August Meditation

Without music, life would be a mistake. 
     Fredrick Nietzsche 

August Poetry

The Waning Moon 

And like a dying lady, lean and pale, 
Who totters forth, wrapped in a gauzy veil, 
Out of her chamber, led by the insane 
And feeble wanderings of her fading brain, 
The moon arose up in the murky East
 A white and shapeless mass. 
Art thou pale for weariness 
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth, 
Wandering companionless 
Among the stars that have a different birth, 
And ever changing, like a joyless eye 
That finds no object worth its constancy? 

Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1820